The most recent studies on the acquisition of evidentiality, be it morphologically or syntactically encoded, have argued that the comprehension lag detected is due to factors having to do with others' authority or mental perspective, where "others" stands for other individuals involved in the experiment in various manners (e.g., the…

While it is known that heritage speakers diverge from the homeland baseline, there is still no consensus on the mechanisms triggering this divergence. We investigate the impact of two potential factors shaping adult heritage language (HL) grammars: (1) cross-linguistic influence (CLI), originally proposed for second language acquisition (SLA), and…

Task-Based Language Teaching has been developed in response to the teacher-dominated, focus-on-forms methods such as Present, Practice, Produce (PPP). The body of literature is replete with studies examining the learning efficacy of the PPP approach versus TBLT; however, these studies did not use assessment tasks in comparing these two methods. To…

Grounded in the activity theory, we adopted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach to explore the impact of automated written corrective feedback (AWCF) on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' academic writing skills (i.e. task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexicon, and grammatical range and accuracy). To this end, two…

Although the development of implicit grammatical knowledge is highly desirable, not all grammatical constructions could be learned implicitly. Therefore, one of the ultimate objectives of most English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms is to aid learners in developing their (automatic) explicit grammatical knowledge. Using progressively complex…

To this day, there are only a few studies that have used a controlled instructional intervention on specific linguistic structures to investigate if language instruction is beneficial for heritage learners (HLs), in the same way it is for second (L2) language learners, and more research in this area is rapidly needed (Bowles, 2018). The results…

Enhancing learners' grammar competence basically improves their communication skills. Nevertheless, the question of which grammar teaching technique is highly useful for the purpose is arguable. In light of that, this study was set out to examine the effects of using grammar consciousness-raising tasks in enhancing students' narrative tenses…

Research has suggested the important role of vocabulary knowledge in second language (L2) speaking proficiency. However, earlier studies tended to disregard the congruence in test format between assessing vocabulary knowledge and speaking skills with the former predominantly measured in written format. The current study measured vocabulary…

This exploratory study evaluated the impact of a Spanish second language (L2) domestic immersion (DI) program that was developed expediently at a large university in the United States in response to widespread study abroad (SA) program closures due to COVID-19. Spanish language learners (n = 14) participated in an intensive, six-week summer…

Many language teachers employ collaborative learning within their classrooms. However, expectations surrounding the efficacy of working collaboratively need to be empirically verified. This study employed dynamic assessment to investigate whether learners who are situated within an undergraduate Qatari EFL context learn second language grammatical…

The role of recasts, a corrective feedback technique, has received much attention from instructed SLA researchers. While a variety of factors have been identified as influencing their effectiveness in facilitating uptake and L2 development (e.g., learners' age and level of proficiency), the role of mode of interaction has been the object of…

There have been plenty of research studies which have demonstrated the efficacy of focus on form (FonF) approach in language teaching. However, processing instruction as a kind of FonF approach has not been given due attention. As such, the present study is an attempt to shed more lights upon the effects of the processing instruction (PI) on EFL…

This research investigated avoidance behaviour, one of the strategies L2 learners may resort to because of L1-L2 differences, or the non-existence of L2 structures for L1 learners, i.e. the Avoidance Behaviour Hypothesis (Schachter 1974). However, based on the Factors of L2 Non-Avoidance Hypothesis (FNAH) (Thiamtawan & Pongpairoj, 2013, 2019),…

This study examined the impact of the manipulated task complexity (Robinson 2001a, 2001b, 2007, 2011; Robinson & Gilabert, 2007) on second language (L2) speech comprehensibility. I examined whether manipulated task complexity (a) impacts L2 speech comprehensibility, (b) aligns with L2 speakers' perception of task difficulty (cognitive…

The Interface Hypothesis proposes that the pragmatic-discursive interface with syntax is more vulnerable to crosslinguistic influence than the syntactic-semantic interface [Tsimpli, Ianthi, and Antonella Sorace. 2006. "Differentiating Interfaces: L2 Performance in Syntax- Semantics and Syntax-Discourse Phenomena." In Proceedings of the…